Lawyer faces bar and criminal cases over claimed thefts from firm, is also charged with burglary
A Texas lawyer is facing a triple whammy, simultaneously defending legal ethics and criminal cases over claimed thefts from his former firm, as well as an apparently unrelated burglary charge.
The state bar filed a disciplinary petition against Alto Watson III at the end of May, alleging that he had diverted funds from the Law Firm of Gilbert T. Adams between 1998 and 2012 by having clients make payments directly to him, reports the Southeast Texas Record.
The Beaumont Enterprise reported last year that he had also been indicted for theft, and a recent 12 News Now article indicates that a plea is pending.
The station and the Record also say Watson was arrested and subsequently indicted in Jefferson County for burglary of a habitation and for family violence.
At last report he was jailed in lieu of a total of $12 million in bail.
